With the scoreline finely balanced at 1-1 heading into the latter stages of the match against Norwich, Wolves boss Nuno Espirito Santo had a decision to make – eventually, he made the right one as it won the game for his side.
Snapshot
His team had gone 1-0 down after Todd Cantwell opened the scoring in the 17th minute with an emphatic effort, and were left trailing until the 60th minute when Roman Saiss thumped in a well-placed header.
Having been given such a tough game by Norwich up until that point, perhaps a share of the spoils would’ve been a fair outcome from the game in which both sides enjoyed good periods of play.
However, Nuno was not content to see his side settle for a point, and 17 minutes after his side found an equaliser, he made a decisive switch which paid off almost immediately.
Pedro Neto’s superb impact
Nuno decided to throw Pedro Neto into the fold in the 77th minute with just 13 minutes of normal time remaining, and the young Portuguese forward truly repaid his manager’s faith in him.
In such a brief cameo, the 19-year-old attacker had a huge say in proceedings.
Neto delivered the dangerous cross that eventually saw the ball bounce kindly for Raul Jimenez to fire high into Norwich’s net, just four minutes after he replaced Diogo Jota at Carrow Road.
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Aside from that significant impact, the teenager also recorded two dribbles – two more than Jota managed in 77 minutes on the field – while also registering one shot, the same amount as Jota mustered up.
Neto also completed 100% of his passes against the Canaries, helping to keep possession tidily as he and his teammates wrapped up an impressive comeback win in Norfolk, largely thanks to his instant impact from the bench.
At such a young age, and having made just one Premier League start this season, Neto showed great maturity to grab a game that was in the balance by the scruff of the neck – Nuno should be patting himself on the back for making the change.
In other news, this prodigy would be an ideal successor for Adama Traore at Wolves…
